OP Dead and Alive
by Nijikawa Satori
Summary: 2 weeks after Sabo's memories returned, he went to visit Ace's grave. Just before he was about to leave, he heard a voice from behind him say, "Damnit Sabo, no wonder I couldn't find you in the other world." Sabo turned around only to find the ghost of his dead brother who looked just as shocked as he was. Ghost!Ace
1. Sure I'm Dead but You can See Me!

**Summary:** 2 weeks after Sabo's memories returned, he went to visit Ace's grave. Just before he was about to leave, he heard a voice from behind him say, "Damnit Sabo, no wonder I couldn't find you in the other world." Ghost!Ace

 **During Timeskip. Two weeks after Marineford War. May Contain Spoilers**

 **You know, I hate to do this but as for this one I can't help it. I have a story that I started but for some reason I couldn't write it. No matter how much I think. It'll be up for adoption. Go look for "OP The Adventures of the Straw Hat Children" It's been two years and only a 200 word prologue was written. Message me! For now, I hope you enjoy this one!**

 **Rewrite! 8/23/15** Ok I just watched **Episode of Sabo** and decided to rewrite some parts into this. Well, rewrote and added some more emotional parts to start off this fanfic. Since I wrote this all in one night, I didn't really think it all through until I read it all again. Some parts didn't make sense like how Baltigo and the island with Ace's grave was so close that you can go back to get breakfast. Also I rewrote some more interaction between Sabo and Ace because I believe it to be rather unrealistic. So I hope you enjoy.

* * *

"Dragon-san! Sabo's back!" shouted one of the revolutionaries. Dragon was at his usual spot on the balcony again seeing Sabo from below on his horse returning from a small mission he assigned him to do. He turned around at went back inside the base.

The doors opened as Sabo and Koala entered the main office.

"Sabo, Koala how did it go?" asked Dragon.

"It was another cover-up from the Marines as usual. The money loss was caused by a Marine Captain named… Dohachiro Nezu, using it for his luxury. What happened, we already know." Sabo said as he gave a folder to Dragon who took it gratefully.

"With Admiral Aokiji soon to be Fleet Admiral, I doubt this Nezu guy would last though." Koala added.

"Actually Koala-chan, Akainu was also nominated for the position as Fleet Admiral." said one of the revolutionaries. Koala gave a worried glance towards Sabo. His head lowered, hiding his eyes from view. "Sabo-kun…"

"Hm. That should be all for today." Dragon turned and walked into what seemed to be his office.

"I'm gonna go stay in the wind." Sabo said as he walked outside to the balcony followed by Hack, a Fishman and Koala.

"How are you feeling, Sabo-kun?" Koala asked as she took a place to Sabo's right side.

"So and so I guess." Sabo replied as he leaned his arms onto the stone of the balcony.

"…To remember recently after so many years, I'm surprised that you only feel so and so after 2 weeks. I don't even think anyone would even go on missions after all that." Hack followed.

"Well, I still have my responsibilities as second-in-command."

"And sneaking into the kitchen to get 'midnight snacks' isn't one of them by the way." Koala said humourously. Sabo laughed a bit, "But still… You haven't visited his grave yet. I think he'd really be happy if he knew that you were alive." Koala added.

"But… It's been two weeks."

"It's been _10 years and two weeks._ What difference would it make? Besides, you would've gone immediately if we hadn't had that mission; most of the time was spent on travelling!" She turned to face directly at Sabo, her hands on her hips, "You will go! Tomorrow morning in fact. I'll go tell Dragon-san you need a break. If it's about Ace-san, then I'm sure he'll understand. Ace-san did watch over his son."

Koala skipped back inside. Before Sabo could stop her, Hack put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. It was futile. Sabo sighed; it was about time he apologized to Ace.

* * *

 _3 days later..._

Ace floated over Luffy as he fought a giant gorilla on Rusukaina Island. A blindfold covered Luffy's eyes as he continued to receive blows and throw punches that barely hit the gorilla. As he trained, Ace kept saying words of encouragement and tips on how to use Observation Haki. Obviously, he couldn't hear his big brother as he got a really hard punch from the gorilla.

"Ouch…" Luffy said as he struggled slightly to stand up. "Damn, I can't get this Observation Haki right. Rayleigh's still asleep so I can't ask for tips either."

Ace sighed. He could easily finish off this gorilla. He floated over to the gorilla and gave a kick on its head which unfortunately but not unexpectedly passed through. However, it did have an effect. The gorilla shivered ever so slightly. An eyebrow rose. Then a familiar feeling came over Ace. After 2 weeks, he realized that it was some sort of notice that says that you have an offering. Fortunately for him, he could touch the offerings and interact with them. However, no one had the thought to give him food. Being dead and all, he was never hungry, but he missed the taste of food in his mouth.

' _Ace…'_ He heard a voice say. He didn't know who it belonged to but it felt familiar for some reason. Whenever anyone talked to him, he seemed to hear what they were saying wherever Ace was in the world. Ace kept his ears open as he approached Luffy.

"Wait here Luffy." He said even though he knew Luffy wasn't going anywhere.

Ace floated away.

* * *

Sabo stood in front of Ace's grave which was beside Whitebeard's. He had put down a newspaper of Luffy's return at Marineford to ring the Ox Bell, which Sabo speculated a message to his crewmates, a sake bottle and 3 cups filled with sake.

"Ace… It's me Sabo… Sorry that I had to show my face now, after all this time." Sabo said, "I've become a revolutionary, not a pirate but nevertheless I've come to love the work I do. My friend and colleague, Ivankov… told me about the war in full detail. About how Akainu aimed at Luffy and you took the hit for him. You're such a cool older brother, taking that hit for Luffy."

A breeze flew by as he continued, "After that 'incident,' I was picked up by the revolutionaries and when I came to, I lost my memories even my name. All I knew was that I never wanted to go back to my parents. I wish I could've remembered and shown myself sooner but it was too late. I only remembered after I saw that paper saying that you died. If only I had remembered sooner, could you have been saved? Would you still be alive today? I bet you guys are mad at me. Luffy would have both his brothers if only I remembered sooner. I-I wish I could've seen your face when you were still alive too. For all of that, I'm sorry." He said as tears stained his face, "But don't worry, this time, I'll be the one to watch over our little bro."

He faced the grave with determination fierce in his eyes. The grip on his pipe tightened as he smiled slightly. Sabo put the pipe back onto the strap on his back.

"Damnit Sabo, no wonder I couldn't find you in the other world. You were still alive you bastard." A voice said. Sabo looked around and saw that no one was there.

"Who's there?" He asked but the voice continued on, not hearing him, "Though I'm grateful that I don't have to worry about Luffy and his stupid antics, you leaving early before turning 17 like we all said we would was uncalled for. Look what happened! You should be grateful that you and your stupid ass didn't die."

Sabo didn't move from where he stood as he instead listened, "We missed you…" The voice said gently. Sabo was taken aback but then shook his head.

"I must be hallucinating or something."

"Hmph… This guy didn't even offer me any food." The voice seemed to whine, "Jerk."

A foot somehow appeared in front of Sabo as if someone kicked him from behind but instead it went through his stomach.

"Gyaaah!" He fell down as he turned around. His eyes widened. There was Ace who now stood on the ground still in his kicking pose. Ace's eyes seemed to be just as wide as Sabo's.

"Ace…?"

"Eh?... O-oi, you can see me?" Sabo nodded weakly. Ace put his leg down and jumped into the air, floating onto a sitting position. He floated over to Sabo and bought his face close to his.

"Naah… That can't be right. I'm a ghost." Ace said as stared straight at his brother. Sabo then raised his hand and placed through Ace's face.

"Wah! What the… That was rude!" He shouted as he backed away.

"Eh… Eh?!" Sabo said as he stared at his hand as if it was some foreign object. It felt cold even though the day was so hot.

"Oi, Sabo you didn't have to do that to check you know!"

"Ace…" Sabo whispered as he stared at the ghost in front of him, tears then started to fall again from his eyes, "Ace!"

"Oh, oi… I wasn't that mad. I mean, I don't mind it at all when things pass thr-" Ace said.

"No..." Sabo interrupted, "No it's not that. I'm just happy I got to see you again, even though you're a ghost."

Ace sighed in relief, "Well, I'm glad you're not dead." He grinned. Silence momentarily enveloped around them.

"Sabo..." Ace said, catching Sabo's attention. "You know it just makes me feel so relieved that Luffy still has another brother to take care of him."

"I'm relieved that both of you didn't die in that war. If that happened, I would've been all alone." Sabo said, still his tears flowing. "I'm so sorry, Ace."

Ace's eyes lowered.

Sabo hiccupped, "You know, being a revolutionary, you have to know the latest events. And I'm sure you know that the top leader of the revolutionaries is Dragon, also Luffy's dad." Ace nodded. He watched Sabo as his knees gave in with his hands outward, staring at them solemnly.

"He usually assigns me the task to gather information about the Straw Hat Pirates also the top headlines which you seem to star in almost every time. But it was too late… I remembered who my best friend and brother was until _after_ he died! I've been keeping track of the Straw Hat Pirates but I didn't realize that this Straw Hat Luffy who keeps doing the most unbelievable things was my little brother! What else, he thinks that both of his brothers are dead! If I hadn't gotten my memories back, he would still be alone!" Sabo shouted as he clenched his fists in anger.

"And if you were there at the war? And… What if _you_ died? Again?" Ace said quietly, raising his eyes to meet his.

"I…" The words failed to form in Sabo's throat.

"All of this frustration you're feeling. I've felt it too! What did you think Luffy and I thought when we heard from Dogra that you died?!" Ace said. The two of them just looked at each other for a long time before both of them spoke of similar thoughts. "If only…"

"I wasn't/we weren't…"

"… so stupid back then then you probably wouldn't have died."

Ace sighed, "Didn't we say that we would a life without regrets? But it's almost impossible when you've lost someone dear to you. Luffy… He's been dreaming about us when we were kids for the past two weeks. He's dealing with it far worse than we are right now. All of these regrets, it's no use dwelling on it. " Ace let a few tears fall as he 'hugged' the blonde. Feeling nothing but coldness, Sabo cried harder as he awkwardly tried to return the hug.

"I can't feel a thing…" Sabo stated. His brother chuckled as he pulled away.

"That's because I'm a ghost duh!" Ace joked. Both of them laughed as they quickly wiped their tears away.

"Yeah…" Sabo weakly agreed. He was still dead.

Ace looked at him for a moment and sighed, reading his thoughts. "I'm right here, Sabo. Sure I'm dead but I can see you, you can see me. It's like I never died!"

"This could be a dream or even a miracle. Who knows how long it will last. And maybe we'll lose you again." Sabo said.

"Tch…" Sabo turned to him and tilted his head questioningly, "Do you have to see me and touch me to know I'm right here? I feel like it's going to be like this for a while. But until the time comes when this miracle ends, I'll make sure that it'll be the time when you don't ever have to rely on your senses to know that I'm right here!"

Sabo blinked a few times before snorting, "Cheesy." And he started laughing with a very soft smile.

"Shut up Sabo! It's because of you that I said this!" Ace blushed.

"Hehe, even when you're a little bit transparent I can tell you're blushing Ace…" He teased. After a glare from his brother, he laughed again as he stood up, "Alright, alright I'll stop."

Ace sighed, "Let's just pretend that I didn't die."

"Yeah, that'd be hard when you've got that." Sabo pointed at Ace's chest and when he looked down, he was surprised what was there, or more like, what _wasn't_ there. His chest had a large hole that you could see through. "Oh… This must be because of Akainu. Now that you mention it, I'm wearing the same clothes that I had when I died."

"How could you not notice that?"

"I'm a ghost and you can't really see yourself in the mirror." Sabo could've sworn that it was vampires that can't see themselves in the mirror but instead supposed that it also applies to ghosts.

"I've read in books that dead people who still dwell in the living world haven't really found peace and regret something. You couldn't find peace here?"

"Not anymore now that you're here. But actually, more like it's the opposite. I couldn't find peace in the other world." He looked at his grave as his hands went behind his head. Sabo looked at him, questioningly.

"Roger."

"Oh... You met him?" Sabo said.

" _Saw_ him; with Mom and my old man drinking sake." He shifted his gaze to Whitebeard's grave beside his, "I didn't know what to say. Roger called out to me but I turned the other way… Also don't forget the fact that you weren't there. Don't worry, I won't hold it against you. Why would I get mad at you for not dying?"

Sabo chuckled. "So what are you going to do? Stay here?"

"Well, I could go back if I wanted to since there's this portal that us ghosts can use. You should see how much dead people are around. They're either watching over loved ones or cursing, or just doing plain pranks. But you know, there's a lot more people who prefer to watch over from the other world. I don't get it." He shrugged his shoulders. "Apparently we all have to go back in every month at least once or else we'll start to disappear along with our existence. That means, everything that relates to me will be erased: memories, photographs, all those stuff! I don't plan on erasing my existence but I'll stay here as much as I can. Besides, I'm trying to help Luffy train. Keyword: trying." He said.

"Hm… This still doesn't explain why I can see you."

"Not to mention, only me. There are others here too. Although, we all just ignore each other unless we know the person." Ace turned around and saw an old man sitting by a tree watching the waves hit the rock below him. A burnt dog wagged its tail as a child wearing a patient's dress tried to catch him.

"There's more? Hm…" He looked around, "I don't see them... Hey, Ace, what's it like? The other world," Sabo asked.

"It's a gigantic city on a gigantic ship on top of a gigantic ocean." Ace answered bluntly. Sabo sweat dropped at his answer, "I-I see…"

They stood there in silence. Sabo's stomach then growled.

"Ah… Ahaha! I forgot I haven't eaten breakfast yet." Sabo sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. He turned to Ace who was seemingly pouting.

"What do you have for breakfast?" He said.

"Hm? Err… I have some meat and a cup of ramen." Sabo smiled at the thought. A hand appeared through the front of his chest and he shivered. He felt like his heart had stopped.

"Gya!"

"Mind giving me an offering of meat?" Ace said threateningly as he pulled his hand back.

"What?" Sabo held his chest, relieved to know that his heart was still beating.

"I can't interact with objects unless they're an offering or a dedication. I'm craving for some meat." As demonstration, he picked up a sake cup and drank it. Tossing it up in the air, he caught it and put it back down on the crate where it was sitting on previously. Ace lowered his hand over Sabo's shoulder and he felt goosebumps forming.

"Stop that!" He tried to swat his hand away but it just passed through him. Sabo then rubbed his cold hand. "Tch."

Ace laughed.

"Alright, I'll offer you some food." Sabo said.

"Oh? You have it in your boat?" Ace said as he jumped to float again.

"Yeah." Sabo said as he started walking back down to the boat. Ace lied down on his back while being afloat. He followed Sabo as he started picking his nose.

"I should probably check on Luffy first. You could go visit, he's currently in Rusukaina."

"Rusukaina? Isn't that the island in the Calm Belt?"

"Yup, that's the one. Near Amazon Lily." Ace then sat up again as he watched Sabo board his boat.

"I would love to but that's far from where I am now, in Baltigo."

"Right, you're in the Revolutionary Army. I almost forgot. What's your rank? It sounded like you were one of the top officers judging from our conversation. I expect you to be in the high top 10s." Ace said with a smirk on his face which Sabo returned.

"Second-in-command. Not too different from what you do." Ace whistled before he smiled.

"You still should come visit Luffy, he'd be really happy to see you." Ace said.

"I would but I'm training someone once I get back. It takes about 3 days to get from Baltigo to here and even more so from Baltigo to Rusukaina." Sabo replied.

"Oh really? Who? Do I know that person?"

"If you met all of his crewmates yeah sure; she's one of Luffy's friends. Nico Robin."

"'Demon Child' Nico Robin right? I've heard of her. It's funny how things work out… I'm guessing you won't be coming much then." Ace said almost disappointed.

"Yeah. But I'll still visit you here. Besides, you can come to Baltigo too." Sabo untied the ropes that held the boat in place, "Do you know the way to Baltigo? Not a lot of people do."

"Well, I've been there once. Stayed for like a day before I left. I never knew it was that that was the Revolutionary's Base until after I came back to the Moby Dick and heard it from the old man. I'll come find your ship once I'm done back in Rusukaina. It shouldn't take too long." Ace then started floating.

"Alright, just don't hope for much because remember, I'm at sea for 3 days." Sabo said. Ace narrowed his eyes at a bag right behind him.

"Really now, that sack of food looks way more than for 3 days."

"It's for emergency! Geez!"

"Whatever you say, see ya later."

"Yup, see ya."

* * *

When Ace returned, he saw a submarine on the shore with a sign of the Heart Pirates. His eyebrows furrowed as he floated down where there was man who Ace identified as Trafalgar Law talking to Silvers Rayleigh. Luffy was right beside Rayleigh sleeping despite his bad condition. Ace floated closer and listened into their conversation.

"Luffy seemed to have overexerted himself too much that it opened his wounds." Rayleigh said. Law sighed.

"I was planning to check up on him since those wounds should've been healed by now but…" Law turned to the sleeping Luffy, "I'll get to it as soon as I can. Has he eaten yet?"

"In his sleep yes." Rayleigh said. Law continued to stare blankly at Luffy but Ace could tell that he was little taken aback by his 'skill.'

Ace turned to Luffy and there he saw another ghost sitting on a log and watching Luffy as he smoked. He looked a little bit like Doflamingo. But instead, he wore a black feather mantle that covered the back of his white shirt with pink hearts, his white pants, and mismatched shoes. A toque covered most of his blonde hair. He also wore makeup over his eyes and mouth. The Doflamingo look-a-like noticed Ace's stare and smiled at him before he gave a peace sign.

Ace felt no ill intent from the man. He waved back in acknowledgement as he went to the ground and walked over, settling onto the seat next to him.

"Little brother right?" He said as he pointed at Luffy.

"Yeah." Ace said as he chuckled at Luffy's drooling face.

"Mine too." He pointed at Law who was still talking to Rayleigh. Ace hummed in response. Silence wrapped around them for a little while before the ghost broke it.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet Fire Fist Ace…" He said whose eyes still didn't turn away from Law.

"And you are…?" The ghost turned to him and smiled.

"Donquixote Rosinante, but you can call me Corazon if you'd like." Ace tensed slightly but then he noticed what his smoke was doing to his clothes.

"Oi, your mantle's on fire."

 **END!**

 **Well I hope you enjoyed the new rewrite. I apologize for those who have already read this chapter but I recommend you reread it because it changes the course of the next chapter which I will put up sometime later.**


	2. Beginning

**ANNNND I present to you another chapter of Dead and Alive! I've been seeing a bunch of Whitebeard Fanfics with ASL kids growing up with them. I haven't started reading some of them yet but I will soon because I want to know a general idea of their personalities. Does anyone have any suggestions?**

 **For those who have read the first chapter before the rewrite, I recommend that you read it again because if you read this now it wouldn't make sense... Much. I apologize for the inconvenience. But basically what has been changed was, the schedule of Robin's training, I added more emotional parts between Ace and Sabo, and it takes 3 days for Sabo to get to the gravesite**

 **ENJOY!**

After finally putting out the fire on his mantle, both of them sighed in relief. They laughed a little with Corazon being a little red. Ace liked the man right away.

"I'm Doffy's ah err… Doflamingo's little brother by the way." Corazon explained, seeing his earlier reaction to his name.

"Well, it's nice to meet you." Ace smiled at him as he held out his hand. Corazon shook it gratefully.

"Were you expecting a more Doffy-like person?" He said. Ace shook his head in response.

"I know better than to judge people based on bloodline." Ace grinned. They then turned to Law and Rayleigh who were approaching Luffy as they talked.

"I apologize, he seemed insistent on training. I said we would start later in the afternoon since it has already been two weeks but to think he would go on ahead and try Observation Haki against that gorilla of all things." Rayleigh said.

"Well, two weeks is an approximation. I'm guessing that the wounds haven't closed fully." Law crouched down and examined his wounds a little bit, "It's not fatal. But because of this, training will have to be postponed again for a few days."

"That idiot." Ace whispered.

"I'll just have to re-bandage it again and that should be it. I'll be back later." Law said as he bought out some bandages to wrap around Luffy, "Tch. Straw Hat-ya you're wasting my time because of this."

"Thank you very much." Rayleigh said from behind him.

"Now isn't he nice?" Corazon smiled at Law.

"Tsundere huh…" Ace muttered softly but Corazon heard it and started chuckling.

"Maybe but not too much. Even when he was a kid, he was a softie despite that scary face." Corazon said. He walked over to Law and ruffled his hair. An annoyed frown appeared on Law's face before shaking it off. Ace hummed in response.

"Hey, Corazon."

"Hm?"

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you… You know, die?" A sad smile appeared on his face. Corazon jumped up in the air to lay his back on nothing. Staring up at the sky, he answered softly.

"Doffy shot me." Ace's eyes narrowed; why would he kill his own little brother?

"It was mostly my fault, I betrayed him after all. I don't regret it though. It was all for Law." Then he started explaining about how he was part of the Donquixote family and how he was a Marine commander undercover. 2 years after meeting Law, he tried to help him with his disease and the only way to cure it was with his Devil Fruit, the Ope-Ope no Mi. Doflamingo had planned for Corazon to eat it but since he already had a Devil Fruit, he made Law eat it and let him run away. "The Ope-Ope no Mi's powers is very much like a surgeon in an operating room but it has one more use that Doffy wants… He…"

His words faded afterwards and Ace didn't push him any further. "Well, that was almost 11 years ago." Corazon added.

"11? How old are you?!" Ace said. Corazon gave him a sideways glance before counting his years.

"37…" He said almost unsure of himself.

"Considering Trafalgar's a kid 11 years ago, you're old enough to be his dad rather than an older brother." Ace said as he jerked his thumb towards Law. Corazon chuckled.

"Older brother, father… He's family nonetheless." Corazon said.

"You really cared for Trafalgar." Ace said softly, "after all you've done for him."

Corazon gave him a peace sign with a smile, "Well, you my friend deserve the praise. I saw what you did in Marineford."

"I'll never let that bastard Akainu lay a hand on Luffy." Ace said quickly as he glared at the ground, "I don't mind doing it again if it became necessary. But I'd rather not give Luffy more pain than I've already caused. Heh, not that I can anyways."

"Yeah…"

A voice interrupted him from his thoughts as Ace glanced down at his little brother who seemed to be having a nightmare.

"Ace…" He muttered.

* * *

Sabo sighed for the umpteenth time since he started working on his paperwork. He was currently inside the cabin of his boat, behind his desk doing his already due report. Since he was going to be at sea for 3 days, he might as well do something productive rather than just play with his pipe or eat or sleep. Once more, he looked at the window in front of his desk to see if Ace was coming. It's been almost 3 hours since he left the island and he was getting restless staring at the piece of paper he held in his hand. Sabo was almost done and he started to wonder what he was going to do for the next hours and 2 days. He remembered what he did on the way to the gravesite, writing about his adventures from the 'incident' with the nobles to where he was right now. He had promised after all to write a book about the world he'd seen. Of course he gave his fingers some rest from writing too much. They were powerful but not for hours straight. He wasn't planning on writing too much on the way back so after another long sigh he started to write the last few paragraphs of his report to just get it over and done with.

Shortly after finishing up and reading it over, he put the papers onto the folder. The Transponder snail at the corner of his desk started ringing and he picked it up.

"Yeah?"

" _Sabo-kun? Koala here."_

"Koala, what's up?"

" _Are you on your way back?"_

"Yeah. Why?"

" _Good. Well, remember the ship from Tequila Wolf? It's coming a bit earlier than expected. They're coming a day earlier. So if you could, do you think you can get here at the same time too?"_

"Maybe… Depending on the wind."

" _Alrighty. Oh right, have you started making your training regime for Nico Robin yet?"_

"Do I really have to do that?"

" _It's recommended. Ah, I have to go Sabo-kun, see you soon!"_

*Kacha*

Sabo sighed as he put down the phone. He stood up and turned to his right where there was a bed. One small step and he lay down on the really soft mattress closing his eyes. "Maybe for an hour."

Sabo felt his head grew cold. He was currently facing the wall and he could've sworn that he had perfect eyesight before he slept; now it was all blurry. He blinked but it wasn't getting any better. "That's weird." He mumbled.

"Oh, you're awake huh…" Sabo abruptly sat up in surprise and he saw Ace. He was sitting on air –seemingly sitting on his desk chair- casually with his hands behind his head and his legs stretched straight so that his feet was where his head had been. No wonder his head felt cold and his eyesight was blurry; the jerk's feet went straight through his head also blocking his vision.

"When did you get here?" Sabo said.

"I don't know maybe half an hour ago?" Ace replied. He put a hand on his chin as he thought about it before agreeing with himself, "Yeah, half an hour ago. So where's the grub?'

"I'll go get it." Sabo walked over to the other corner of the room and opened up one of the crates beside the door. He took the bag of food and let it fall on the floor with a thud. At the sight of the bag, Ace started drooling for it. Sabo put back the crate lid before untying the rope around the bag. Various kinds of meat rolled out from the bag. A ghostly hand hovered over the food before it passed through.

"Ah…" Spherical tears started to form in Ace's eyes as he started to comically cry like a little kid.

"Ace get it together man!" Sabo shouted but it fell on deaf ears. He looked back on forth from Ace to the food. He picked up a large chicken drumstick and held it towards Ace who had already wiped away his tears. "Offering?" He said unsure of himself.

Again, his ghostly hand hovered over the piece of meat before he could finally touch it and gulp it down in his throat. Sabo smiled as he kicked the bag over and said "Offering."

"Oh! Thanks Sabo!" Ace crouched down on the ground as he gulped down meat one after another. A bead of sweat trickled down Sabo's forehead. Thank goodness he kept a secret stash in one of the other crates. _'Growl'_ came from Sabo's stomach. Ace stopped his feasting and turned to Sabo who had a faint red tint on his cheeks.

"Ahaha" He said as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his hand, "I was kinda stressed out a while ago."

He reached over to take a large piece of meat when Ace's hand passed through it sending a cold feeling.

"I'm hungry. Besides, I gave you the food." Sabo said in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone.

"So am I." replied Ace. He then added, "for 2 whole weeks! And it's my food now."

"Hmph, like a ghost can stop me." Sabo reached for the large meat once more with Ace's attempts to stop him failing. Ace's eyes darted around the floor looking for something to stop him at all until it fell on a forsaken chicken bone. It was an offering after all. He smirked as he picked it up. Before Sabo's teeth could bite into the meat, he sensed an attack coming from in front of him and he caught it easily with his hand. He glared at Ace who grinned at him.

"Thanks for the offering bro." he said.

"Why you," He stood up and took his pipe that lay beside his bed and swung it against Ace which unfortunately passed through him. His brother stuck his tongue out at him before Sabo grabbed the bone in his hand and whacked him with it.

"Tch." Ace said while Sabo 'hmph'ed back to his spot on the floor. He took a bite of the meat. Both continued eating until the bag was empty.

"How's Luffy by the way?" asked Sabo. Licking his fingers clean, he then put on his gloves.

"He was out when I came back." Ace said simply. Seeing the worried face of his brother he added, "He was training when he wasn't supposed to and his wounds from the war opened up. He's just sleeping."

"Haha, that's Luffy for you. Then what took you so long then?"

"I stayed while that Tra-guy you know Trafalgar Law _–"Yeah."-_ fixed him up. There was a ghost watching over him and we talked." Ace said while Sabo hummed in response.

"Oh right, on the way here, I saw a ship with a bunch of revolutionaries." Ace mentioned as he finished the last of his meat.

"Oh, that must be the ship coming from Tequila Wolf. Nico Robin's on it. Apparently they're coming to Baltigo earlier so that means I have to be there as soon as I can too" Sabo folded the bag and put it back into the crate where it once was.

"Starting the training early eh?" said Ace.

"Pretty much. What do you plan on doing in the next little while? I doubt you have the patience to try and help Luffy train." Sabo flopped over to his bed and rested his head on his arm as he looked at Ace who wore a rather solemn face.

"I'm going to go look for my crewmates and see how they're doing."

 **OMAKE**

 _3 days earlier…_

Sabo walked through the hallways with his arms filled with food. Luck was on his side today, there wasn't a single person in sight. He turned to a corner and pressed the button for the elevator with the tip of his shoe. As he was waiting patiently, he heard a loud shriek.

"Why that twerp…! Sabo!" Recognizing the lunch lady's voice as well as the booming steps coming closer and closer, Sabo panicked.

The elevator opened much to his relief and he jumped in. The steps were getting really close as Sabo started pressing the close button repeatedly. The elevator closed just as soon as the lunch lady's red face came into view.

"Phew…" Well, at least the gravesite was 3 days away by boat; surely the lunch lady won't follow him there.

 **END!**

 **How was it? REVIEW please!**


	3. Why Not Try it Out?

**To compensate for my writer's block on two of my other stories, I'm updating 3 stories that I've recently updated for the past week(s.) However, that will be over the course of the weekend not all on the same day. Unless I'm _that_ diligent haha! So without further ado…**

 **OP Dead and Alive**

 **This chapter will be focusing on Sabo and eventually his interaction with Robin. And also if you're wondering about Corazon, he'll come sooner or later. He'll be important to the story.**

 _Sabo didn't know where he was. After getting hit by that damned Celestial Dragon, he woke up along a shoreline. As far as he can remember, Mt. Corvo, or Goa Kingdom didn't have any clean beaches. He struggled to sit up and look around. In front of him was a vast ocean and off to the side was still the shoreline going on for who knows how long. Right behind him were a line of tall, no, MASSIVE trees. He figured that those were blocking the sun but he guessed wrong. When he looked up and over the trees, he couldn't believe what he saw; there was a wooden wall even bigger than the trees. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky. He could see that the wall seemed to go on forever up to the sky._

" _Where the heck am I?" he said to himself. A cough from behind took his attention and he abruptly stood up taking a defensive stance. Appearing from behind the trees was a man who held a sake bottle up to his lips chugging it all down as he approached the young boy. Sabo stayed still. Finally, he finished the sake bottle and he threw to the sea._

" _You're… Sabo?" he said. Sabo tensed up but said nothing. The man laughed aloud as he drew closer to the boy and ruffled his hair. He went right next to him and sat down looking at the waters before him. Sabo didn't say anything. He turned around and sat down beside him but at a distance. He had a feeling that this man wouldn't hurt him but it won't hurt to be wary._

" _Aren't you a little too young to die?" he whispered. Sabo narrowed his eyes at the man._

" _What do you mean?" Sabo finally replied. The man turned to him and pressed his finger on Sabo's forehead._

" _You're dead." Sabo's eyes widened. The man gave his finger a little force and pushed Sabo back still frozen by the revelation._

" _Old man what are you talking about?!" He quickly stood up, eyes never leaving the man._

" _After you got hit by that Celestial Dragon, you died." The man said simply. Sabo stared at him in disbelief._

" _N-no… That… that can't be true…" Sabo said as he started to tremble. He shook his head before exclaiming to the man, "I still have a dream to fulfill! I have brothers that I have to look out for! I haven't found my answer yet!"_

" _Well too bad for you." The man replied._

" _I can't be dead!" He shouted. "Ow! Why did you hit me?"_

 _"You were annoying me." The man rubbed his knuckle. A large bump appeared on his head and the man wondered if he should've held back a bit. "Besides, what can you do about it?"_

" _But… but…" Sabo said. He stared at his hands, looking at them in anger. Tears started falling on them, "I can't leave Ace and Luffy behind."_

 _The man looked at him with an unreadable expression. He stood up and grabbed Sabo by the back of his collar. Despite the younger's struggle attempts, he continued to walk towards the sea. He brought the boy above the shallow waters where both of them could see their reflections. The reflections slowly disappeared soon being replaced by a different image. That was the inside of Dadan's house! He saw everyone as well as Ace and Luffy listening to Dogra about something serious but Sabo didn't seem to notice._

" _Ace, Luffy!" He cried out. Sabo struggled out from the man's hold and scrambled over to the water._

" _They can't hear you." The man said simply. Sabo looked at him for moment before the scene in the waters became rather violent. Dadan slammed Ace's head to the floor and started shouting at him._

" _Why that bi-"_

" _SABO!" cried out Luffy. And with that, the man touched the water and the scene faded back to their reflections._

" _Damn it all!" Sabo shouted as he punched the water. He had to go back. But he can't. What kind of big brother was he? Letting his little brother cry._

" _There are two ways for you to go back." The man said, reading his thoughts. Sabo looked up at him expectantly. "One of them is that you go down there as a ghost. Or… Someone down there manages to revive you."_

" _Revive? I thought you said I was already dead!"_

 _"You are but some parts of your body aren't entirely dead yet, leaving space for treatment and eventually recovery. That's assuming someone takes you out from the sea and actually treats you." The man grinned at him, laughing a bit. "Well... Since that second choice depends on the people from the living that means you actually have one choice."_

" _Being a ghost?" He replied weakly._

" _Yes!" He said. "Why not try it out?"_

" _But they won't even see me! What point is there?" Sabo exclaimed._

" _Wouldn't you want to see them up close rather than watching from these waters?" The man replied softly._

" _Yeah but…"_

 _"Good!" He kicked Sabo far and to the water._

 _"Eh?!"_

* * *

Sabo woke up with a start. He didn't know what happened but he felt like he was tossed into the ocean. He looked around and saw that he was back in his cabin. It was dark and the only source of light was from the window where the moonlight passed through. It has been sometime since Ace left to go check up on Luffy. They spent the past hours talking about Sabo's adventures as well as Ace's time with the Whitebeard Pirates. They attempted to fight each other but that simply resulted with the boat rocking much to Sabo's discomfort.

Sabo stood up and walked out the cabin door where he was greeted by the cold nightly breeze. He looked out onto the sea where the moonlight reflected upon the waters giving it a silvery shimmer. The wind was with him that night, no doubt he would arrive at Baltigo real soon. Maybe in 20 hours at earliest. He took in a cold breath and let it out in a long sigh and wondered if any of that day actually happened. Sabo shook his head, he was at least thankful that he was able to talk to his brother. Another breeze flew by and he shivered from the cold. He turned around. Maybe he'll grab something to eat before he'll go back to bed.

In the next 20 hours, Ace came to visit him once, telling him how Luffy was doing and taking the rest of his emergency food supply into his black hole of a stomach. However, that didn't stop Sabo from eating his fill either. Multiple times they "played" tug-of-war with their food. The food usually broke in half if not being ripped into pieces scattered all over the room.

"I haven't eaten my second dinner yet! You're a ghost, you shouldn't be hungry!" Sabo exclaimed.

"Phry _fuu_ pleefs wshyao fuu!" Ace replied.

"How about talking after you cleared your mouth from the food?" Sabo sweat dropped. Ace gave himself a few chews before he gulped it all down his throat.

"Try _two_ weeks without food!" He exclaimed. Sabo simply sighed. His brother then stopped his devouring as a feeling went over him and it didn't go unnoticed by Sabo.

"What is it?" He asked.

"I've got an offering and..." Ace sat still and closed his as if listening for something. When he opened them, Sabo couldn't help but notice the sparkle in his eyes the same way when he talked about his crew. "...it's Marco and the others! That's going to save me the effort of going to see them!"

"So are you going now?" said Sabo.

"Yeah." He grinned. "I'll come by sooner or later."

"Alright." Sabo said as he smiled. Both of them gave a wave to each other before Ace floated through the wall and speedily across the sea.

He arrived at Baltigo shortly after and he saw the ship from Tequila Wolf docked already. One small light was onboard held by a fellow revolutionary. Sabo gave the watchman a nod of acknowledgement –which he returned- before turning to the stables hidden behind the trees. He saddled himself onto his favourite horse, a blue roan stallion and rode on to the base.

* * *

She squinted her eyes through her binoculars as she could make out a silhouette from afar.

"Sabo-kun? Oh! That is him! Hmph, I never thought he could make it this early." Koala said from the balcony. She put down her binoculars and ran back inside, "Dragon-san, Robin-san, Sabo-kun's here!"

* * *

Sabo let his horse, Hiryuu back into a stable beside the base. He gave the horse a pat on the side as the horse entered his stable also giving Sabo a nudge. Sabo closed it before giving the horse another pat.

"Good night Hiryuu." He said. The horse neighed in reply.

Sabo entered the base and proceeded to the second floor where the main offices are. Stepping out of the elevator, he noticed that there were more people in the hallways. Well, since the teams from Tequila Wolf arrived, it wasn't much of a surprise. The doors automatically opened as Sabo neared them and seeing some familiar faces that he hasn't seen for a long time because of their mission in Tequila Wolf.

"Long time no see," he said to most of them which they replied in kind. Koala approached them with another woman behind her.

"Good job making it here early Sabo-kun." She said, "Oh, I would like to introduce to you Robin-san! She's really nice!"

Robin gave a giggle before bowing in greetings towards Sabo who returned it. "It's nice to meet you Sabo-san."

"Just Sabo is fine, nice to meet you too Nico Robin." Sabo replied, "You are aware that I will be your trainer for the next while? As well as Koala."

"Yes, I'm very grateful to be offered training from the Revolutionary's number 2." Robin smiled. Then a different kind of smile replaced the previous which seemed to be an amused one. "However if I am permitted to ask, why _did_ the Revolutionary's number 2 offer to train me? I originally planned to train myself."

"Yeah, Sabo-kun?" Koala added.

"Ah…" Sabo said, "Regarding that matter, I would like to speak to you privately as I have some questions to ask you."

Robin blinked once before she nodded. Sabo stepped forward towards the balcony door. Koala tilted her head in confusion before placing a fist on an open palm in understanding. She smiled before she excused herself. Robin followed Sabo towards the balcony where the cold breeze had finally settled down. Sabo leaned his elbows onto the balcony stone wall. Robin stood beside him quietly in wait.

"It's about your captain." Sabo said.

"Luffy? Ah, he's doing fine." Robin said, and added as an afterthought, "I hope…"

" _Fire Fist Ace dies in War of the Best. Straw Hat Luffy Rescue Attempt Failed._ That was headlines of the newspaper I read before I regained my memories." Sabo said. The raven-haired woman tilted her head slightly.

"Regained your… memories? Of what?"

"Of my brothers…" He answered. Robin's eyes had widened by a fraction. She lowered her head in deep thought. Did he mean Luffy and Ace were his brothers? She's never heard of Luffy having two brothers. If anything, he would've told twice as many stories because he had another brother. Did he not talk about Sabo because he was amnesic? No, he would've mentioned something at least about having another brother if that were the case. He also didn't have any sort of reason to lie. The only other reason Robin could come up with why Luffy hadn't told them about Sabo was because…

"I 'died.' Well, I'm supposed to be dead because of an incident." Sabo said, finishing her thoughts. "But thanks to Dragon, I was able to recover but I lost my memories. That was why I was never able to show myself to Luffy or Ace."

Robin bit her lip. That means right now Luffy thinks he's lost both brothers. She knew the pain of losing people you love especially those who's been with you the most. She doesn't want to experience it all again and she doesn't have to now that Luffy was there. As much as Robin wants to be there for him, she couldn't and right now Luffy needs someone and the person he needs the most is someone he could relate to and lean on.

Sabo continued, "I wasn't able to do anything for either of them during the war especially for Luffy who needed someone when he lost his favourite brother afterwards. I knew you were part of his crew. So when I found out you were coming to train yourself for… how many years did you say?"

"2 years…" Robin replied.

"Yeah, so when I found out you were coming to train for 2 years, the least I could do for Luffy was help one of his friends." Sabo finally said. He let out a long breath before he stood up straight with determined eyes. Robin smiled and giggled.

"What a nice older brother." She said.

"It's what brothers are for." He said as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"Are you going to visit Luffy anytime soon?" Robin asked.

"I don't want to distract him from his training. Besides I don't have to worry for now, he's in good hands." He replied. Robin smiled agreeably. She knew Luffy was with Rayleigh and he would be a great teacher. Sabo on the other hand was thinking of Ace instead but either way, Luffy is in good hands.

"You said, that you had questions for me..."

"Never mind, I'll ask Luffy myself... Ah! Wait maybe one question, is his punch stronger than a pistol now?" Sabo asked with bright eyes.

"Stronger than you can ever imagine." Sabo smiled. Now that he couldn't wait to see and experience. He started walking back inside the base with Robin in tow. Once they entered, Koala came up to Sabo along with her cheery self. After a short talk, they both turned to Robin.

"So Nico Robin, we'll be starting tomorrow if that's okay with you." Sabo said.

"Yes." She replied with determination.

"I like that determination." Koala said. "Alright, tomorrow will be introductions and we'll see where we're going to go from there. Don't expect us to go easy on you."

Robin shook her head, "We need to be prepared sailing through the New World on our own. I would be grateful. Also, if it helps Luffy then it would be my pleasure."

Sabo smiled; Looks like Luffy got himself a fantastic crew.

 **CHAPTER END~**

 **So how was it? Is it good or is it bad? Tell me your thoughts like what you want in the fic or what you hope not to appear in the fic or something like that. ^_^ I'll consider them. Review Please!**


	4. Led by Marco the Phoenix

**School finally started for me! I'm new at the school so I'm a little bit nervous. Haha, I hope I won't let that hinder me from updating my stories. XD Anyways, OP Dead and Alive. Dozo!**

Ace floated over his grave where Marco sat cross-legged in front of. He had his head lowered, hiding it from view. Behind him stood his other friends, Jozu, Izo, Haruta, Namur, Vista and the rest of the Whitebeard pirates, looking onto him in worry. Ace couldn't help but feel for him too. After all, the ones closest to Marco were the ones who had already died: Ace, Pops and Thatch.

Everyone knew that but Ace's sure that's not the only reason. The Whitebeard pirates were without a captain. And with Pops gone, the position falls onto the next in line, the 1st Division Commander which was Marco. After everything that has happened, it must be heavy on the guy.

"Marco…"

"Oh! What if isn't Ace!" said a very familiar voice. Ace hasn't heard it for so many months now. He raised his head from Marco and floating behind him was one of his best friends and fellow commanders, Thatch.

"Thatch?! Wow, it's so good to see you!" Ace said. He threw an arm around his shoulders and gave a light punch on his cheek. Both of them laughed heartily for a moment before their gazes fell on their friend. Thatch crossed his arms behind his head and leaned back on the air.

"You know, I probably would've said that you should have listened to Pops to wait before going after that bastard. But then after thinking about it for almost 2 weeks, if you had been murdered, I'd go after him too. If Blackbeard died in that war, I'd be hunting him down right now until his existence poofs!" Thatch said. His friend didn't reply but continued to look at Marco.

Seeing that Ace actually didn't have any intention to reply, Thatch continued, "Why… Is it that people, who deserve to die, live on and those who deserve to live die? Heh, well, to the world, we deserve to die. I guess it depends on the person. Let me ask you a question Ace; was it good that you were born?"

Ace swiveled his head to look directly at Thatch. His face was blank, unreadable. Ace felt no anger or annoyance for invading his personal space. Considering his question, he thought briefly. All that has happened in his lifetime went through his mind in a span of a second. There were the innocent days he spent at Dadan's until the time he found out he was the son of the Pirate King. Then one day, he met a boy that quickly became his best friend and brother, Sabo. Following soon after there was this annoying little guy who touched both their hearts and he's grown overprotective of although he won't admit it. They became brothers but then Sabo 'died.' Then years after, there were those almost fleeting moments with his crew as the Spade Pirates before he was accepted into the Whitebeard Pirates despite his heritage and his early attempts to kill the captain whom he now called father or Pops.

He gave Thatch a concerned look and the rip in his shirt where Teach had stabbed him through with a knife. He went after Blackbeard, got himself captured. More than a thousand people including his little brother came to save him and were successful. But shortly after, he sacrificed his own life for his little brother taking with him only one regret, not being able to see Luffy become the Pirate King. _'My life is too good.'_ He said so himself at the war.

"Yeah." He said simply. His friend smiled fondly at him.

"So, where you've been all this time?" Ace said.

"I never really left the ship since the _incident._ Mostly I've been bugging Marco with our ghost abilities. You know them right? Like the cold sensation they feel when a ghost goes through them only if they're on purpose though." Ace nodded although he didn't know about the 'on purpose' part. He then noticed a slight change of atmosphere between them.

"One day, Red Hair came to warn Pops about the coming era and tried to convince him to stop you. I got worried and I actually have been with you since then." Thatch continued. The fire user furrowed his eyebrows. So it wasn't just Pops who had a bad premonition on what's about to happen. But either way, he would've regretted not avenging Thatch. On the other hand, he was grateful to know that Thatch was with him although he did go through some rough places along the way.

"After you died, I tried looking for you _up there_ but it's too damn large. I even met with Pops and spent our reunion drinking until I asked where you were. He said you were down here. I was with Marco after 5 whole days searching for you knowing that you'd turn up sooner or later." Thatch ended. Ace lowered his head, he hasn't met with Pops properly yet and it's been 2 weeks.

"Marco. What do we do now?" Said a voice from down below. They turned their attention to the speaker, Izo.

Marco raised his head and looked at the graves. He seemed to be thinking deeply and both of them wondered what his decision was considering he was now the captain and Marco can be very unpredictable at times.

" _Thatch, Ace and now Pops."_ Marco thought, dedicating it to his three closest family members and they could hear it well. _"I'd be lying if I told you that I'm alone but I'll sure say that you guys are jerks –save for Pops- for leaving me here to take care of this rowdy bunch. Well, Ace and Thatch, you saved me my sanity and I don't have to deal with your stupid antics from this point on. The times when Thatch would make fun of my hair or the times where Ace would make jokes about me and all of those stupid birds, I'll have less to get annoyed about. But you know… It hurts me to admit it but I'll definitely miss your stupid faces."_

Ace and Thatch blinked before laughing loudly, "Bwahahaha! He got that right! Remember the time where one of those giant birds actually considered Marco for a mate?"

"Oh yeah! Boy was Marco in a bad mood that whole day!"

" _I bet you guys are laughing at me. Shut up you assholes."_

The two of them laughed harder. _"… I'd ask what the hell I'm supposed to do. But then again, I had it coming when I agreed to become the 1_ _st_ _division commander. It's going to be a pain in the ass. I'm sure you guys already know me well enough for my decision from here on then... I'll do it... So you better have my back on this! Tch, I don't know how Pops deals with this bunch…"_

"What do you think?" Marco started softly. He stood up and turned to the rest of the crew. He raised a fist high in the sky and shouted, "We'll continue our adventures as the Whitebeard Pirates for Thatch, Ace and especially Pops! Neither of them would've wanted us to stop adventuring because of their deaths and I'm sure none of you would probably want to go under the 'Phoenix' Pirates."

"No!" They replied. Marco cursed them under his breath. That was a way too fast of a reply, "Whatever… We are still the Whitebeard Pirates and we are family. That's why we'll continue to venture out across the seas and enjoy our ultimate freedom!"

Everyone cheered with their fists raised just as high. Thatch and Ace smiled at each other and threw their fists in the sky as well. "You go tell them pineapple-bastard!"

Marco kicked Ace's grave suddenly. All of them grew quiet.

"Um… Marco what was that for?" Haruta said as she came forward.

Marco blinked at himself before lowering his foot. He turned to Haruta who got more confused at the sight of the popped vein on his forehead.

"I don't know… I suddenly felt really annoyed. Maybe Ace was insulting me from up there." Marco shook his head.

Everyone laughed at him especially Ace. That only added to his annoyance. Afterwards, they went back to their new ship since the main ship, the Moby Dick was destroyed, with Ace and Thatch following them. The Whitebeard Pirates, now led by Marco the Phoenix, had a party for the new found hope and in remembrance to all of those whom they have lost.

* * *

Marco made sure that everyone was asleep before he went outside to the sea where he could see the island drifting farther and farther away. He leaned his elbows against the railings and thought deeply to himself. There was no turning back at this point. He was captain of a ship filled with the wildest bunch of pirates one could ever experience. Not only that, he was captain of a ship that was very infamous throughout the Blue Seas. He let himself sigh. Marco wondered where they were headed to next. Hm… Maybe he could go visit Ace's brother to check up on him.

His mind drifted off to their last meeting almost 2 weeks ago, just right after Ace's brother had rung the bell. They were at sea and Ace's brother had rocketed himself onto their ship when his (holding the ex-Shichibukai fishman and a man looking very similar to the Dark King) was a little more than a football field away.

* * *

" _Urgh…" Vista had his body planted onto the ship's main mast before he slid down to the floor._

" _Oops, sorry!" said the person on top of him. Vista drew out his swords at him and lowered it immediately after recognizing him. Almost everyone was on deck after the loud crash even Marco; he's been in his room for quite some time now._

" _Aren't you Ace's brother?" Marco said, stepping out._

" _Monkey D. Luffy! Sorry for crashing onto the ship." He grinned slightly but everyone could see past his exterior; although they noticed a glimmer of hope in his eyes, there was still a bucketful of loneliness in them. Not that they were any different._

" _So, why have you come here?" Namur asked politely._

" _I came to deliver a message." Luffy lowered his hat to cover his eyes. "I didn't have the chance to earlier."_

" _A message? From who?" The fishman replied._

 _Luffy didn't answer. "It's from Ace isn't it?" Marco said, knowing fully well that the name was currently taboo._

" _Yeah... He told me this just before he…" Luffy never continued. He raised his head to face them all while keeping his body from trembling and breaking down again. He felt cold on his shoulder but oddly enough, it was very familiar and comforting._

" _If it's too painful for you, you can tell us later." Marco said. The teen shook his head. He opened his mouth to speak but some way, somehow, Marco felt the presence of a different person._

" _Everyone…" Luffy started. The feeling on his shoulder now was all over the top of his head moving from side to side as if stroking it. "Even though… I'm worthless… Even though I carry the blood of a demon…"_

" _Thank you for loving me." The smiling form of Ace appeared beside Luffy's as he said those words. The pirates on board blinked their eyes and the form was no more. Marco smirked to himself; the kid really did inherit Ace's will. Luffy bowed in respect of the crew and himself thanked for their support in the war before he rocketed himself back to his own ship. After he left, the last words Ace said, they wondered about it the day he died and now they heard it and they let it sink in. Almost everyone started crying for Ace while Marco went back to his room._

* * *

Ace and Thatch stood on either side of Marco with their elbows on the railings as well. All three of them looked up to the stars where they shone brightly. Ace smiled. It was just like that time he became the 2nd commander. Right now, it was actually the first time he looked at the stars properly ever since he left for Blackbeard.

"You know, it looked like this when you first became 2nd commander, Ace." Thatch said. He laughed, they were both thinking of the same thing.

"Yeah…" Ace replied. Marco let out another sigh. "This is like the 5th sigh he's let out."

"Probably the stress don't you think?" Ace shrugged. Then a bright idea came to mind.

"Hey, wanna 'de-stress' him?" Thatch looked over to Ace with a raised eyebrow. One look at his gleaming eyes and he found himself grinning.

"Now… Didn't Marco dedicate that wine to us? We should be able to use it…" Ace pointed at the empty wine bottle nearby the mast.

Marco didn't how long he stayed like that watching stars but he did know that he had stayed long enough when he noticed that the moon was on a different position than it was before. Letting out another sigh, he turned around and prepared to walk back to wake up one of the commanders to end his shift. However he froze in his tracks when he felt a cold presence on his shoulders. He felt himself trembling even though he wasn't scared and the feeling wasn't that cold either. He looked around and saw no one on the ship. Marco placed his thumb and his forefinger over his eyes and shook his head. He probably drank too much and was imagining things. That is, until he felt something, not a cold presence or anything like that, but a physical object brushed against his hair.

He turned around and his eyes widened at the floating wine bottle. "I'm that drunk?" He asked himself.

Ace and Thatch snickered. Thatch leaned in and blew in his ear. Marco jumped.

"Pineapple head, you're definitely drunk." Ace said, swinging the wine bottle. Marco immediately kicked the wine bottle and it fell into the sea.

"Do you think he can hear us?" Thatch said.

"We sometimes have those moments when we feel like someone's talking to us right? It might be like that." Ace replied. The cook shrugged.

Marco looked over the railing where the bottle had fallen and sighed once more. He was definitely hallucinating. "I'm going crazy… I think I'm going to need help…"

"Gladly!" Ace cheered.

"Wait, Ace me first!"

"First come first serve." And Ace started 'slapping' Marco even though it kept passing through. Thatch was laughing hard in the background while Marco was confused as to what was happening with his body. His teeth chattered as cold drafts swept across his face. He was getting really annoyed after each draft. What he didn't know that he'd be going through this torture the whole night.

* * *

The sun rose high in the sky and Marco didn't get even a wink of sleep. When asked, he would grumble something about 'curses' and 'bastards.' It wasn't obvious but it definitely lightened the stress on his body.

"It's nice to relive the memories." Thatch said sitting from one of the yard masts and looking down at the people below them.

"Yeah… It sure is." Ace said. He was floating beside Thatch with his arms behind his head. They stayed like that wordlessly, enjoying the increasing chatter of their friends. They were finally moving on. Thatch smiled and then looked towards Ace. His friend was looking out towards the sea.

"You gotta go to your bro right?" He said.

"I'm still worried about him. He still has nightmares…" Ace lowered his head, a dark expression on his face. Thatch stood up and patted Ace on the back.

"Go, but make sure to come and visit sometime." Ace smiled at him and nodded. He turned to Marco down and was surprised to see that he was looking at them and smiling too. He then felt someone pass through him from above and jumping down towards Marco. Ace realized that he was actually looking at Jozu and not him. He smiled to himself before he said his goodbyes and floated away. Thatch waved goodbye and floated down to follow wherever Jozu was going in curiosity.

After Jozu left, Marco looked back up where Ace had been and smiling to himself. _'Watch over us Pops, Thatch, Ace.'_

 **END!**

 **Well, sorry for the late and rather rushed chapter! I just needed some time to adjust my schedule and I wanted to update as soon as I could… So I hope you enjoyed it. Review Please!**


End file.
